should i mention my undergrad school name and GPA in SOP?

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I finished writing my SOP and I didn't once mention the name of my undergrad university or my GPA. I felt like it was unnecessary since they have all my other documents (transcripts, LORs, etc). But I remember hearing some people mention that they adcomms might not read all your material at once. So is there a chance some adcomms do blind reading and have no idea what school someone went to or their GPA when reading their SOP? 

[Academicat]

If it's a prestigious school or one that the adcomm might have connections to, mention it. It's only three more words. If it's The University of Phoenix or Strayer University, maybe it'd be best to leave it out.

[junotwest]

I hadn't realized mentioning your university name could be a boon to SOP.  I mentioned mine in the first sentence as a way to temporally ground my hook.  I mentioned my GPA indirectly in the opening of the third paragraph where I talked about my uni not having a lot of classes relating to my specific subfield (basically said I aced all the others) and sought out fellowships to supplement coursework (stated amount earned).  Don't know if that's helpful to you, it worked for me though.  

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

If it's a prestigious school or one that the adcomm might have connections to, mention it. It's only three more words. If it's The University of Phoenix or Strayer University, maybe it'd be best to leave it out.

Yeah, it's not a prestigious school. I just didn't want the person reading it to be distracted the whole time thinking to him/herself, "Where is he talking about?" I doubt they'd start reading my SOP without having some idea of who I am. But I may be wrong. 

 

 

I hadn't realized mentioning your university name could be a boon to SOP.  I mentioned mine in the first sentence as a way to temporally ground my hook.  I mentioned my GPA indirectly in the opening of the third paragraph where I talked about my uni not having a lot of classes relating to my specific subfield (basically said I aced all the others) and sought out fellowships to supplement coursework (stated amount earned).  Don't know if that's helpful to you, it worked for me though.  

Yeah, once again, I don't want to be redundant and mention things they already know, but I consider my GPA quite an accomplishment and I want them to know I've done well while reading my SOP. 

[Vene]

I think I mentioned the unversity's name in my SOP, but I also transferred during undergrad so when I was talking about it I did it to specify where it was I did whatever I was talking about. I didn't bother with GPA because they have my transcripts.

[TheGirlWhoLived]

I wouldn't bother with GPA. I feel like it's just redundant. I also think the SOP is about what you want to do and how your experiences have prepared or inspired you to do this. I don't think GPA is part of this.

[TakeruK]

I would mention the school name because it sounds natural to me to mention that when you start discussing your undergrad experience in your SOP. I think if you do not mention it, people might be left wondering "where did this guy go again?" and either get distracted looking it up or be distracted thinking about it. I know that normally when I talk to someone and if I say anything about my undergraduate experience, someone will ask "Where did you do your undergrad?" if they didn't already know. I do this to others too, so I think location of undergrad is a good way to help give an anchor to you. 

 

Sure, maybe naming a nice school will help, but there are tons of bad applicants from nice schools. I don't think of it as a prestige thing but more as a way to remember who you are. I know that when I meet people in academia, I often think of them as "Stacey from Santa Cruz working on X" or "Bob from Ohio State working on Y", etc. I don't think naming a non-prestigious school will hurt you. I think having a name/location at all helps the reader "ground" themselves when reading your experiences.

 

I did not include my GPA and I don't really think it's necessary to include it for the reasons TheGirlWhoLived stated. But you said you are very proud of your GPA and if that achievement is part of the narrative and tone of your SOP then it shouldn't hurt to include it either. 

[seeingeyeduck]

I didn't mention either. I just said "after graduation..." Without even using the school name. It was a good school but they can just glance at my CV. If raising your GPA is part of your narrative, then do it but otherwise, what's the point? Don't mention them just to mention them. It's supposed to be about your research interests and goals.

[victorydance]

Mentioned my school, not my GPA.

 

I would imagine when referencing your research experience in your undergrad it would be kind of weird not to say something like "my undergraduate experience at X school blah blah."